UFC Rio Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami: Examining the Main Event

Anderson Silva is clearly the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. The last man to technically defeat him was five years ago and it was only because of disqualification.

That man was Yushin Okami, who will once again battle Silva this weekend at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Since their first battle, Silva has gone on a rampage, winning 14 straight fights, in which he captured the UFC middleweight championship and broke almost every record the UFC put in front of him.

Now he faces one of his toughest tests in Okami, who hasn't done too shabby himself since his victory over Silva, winning 12 of his 15 fights, 10 of those wins coming in the UFC.

Okami is one of the biggest middleweights that Silva has ever faced and has only been stopped once. Okami has fought some of the best fighters the UFC has to offer and was even called the "best Japanese fighter ever" by UFC President Dana White.

Notable victories include Nate Marquardt, Mark Munoz, and former UFC champion Evan Tanner.

However, Silva has dominated the middleweight division and has beaten almost everyone that Okami has, and has done so in dominating fashion. Out of his 13 fights in the UFC, only two have gone to a decision.

Okami will have to be at the top of his game against Silva if he wants to gain the respect that he deserves.

So let's take a look at the tale of the tape.

Age

When looking at the age of the two fighters, Okami is the younger at 30 years old.

Okami may still be young, but he has been in mixed martial arts for nine years, fighting a total of 31 fights.

Although Silva, 36, is the older fighter of the two, "The Spider" has shown that age is not a factor.

The UFC has continually thrown top talent at the middleweight champ, and he is still able to dominate the way he dominated when he first achieved the title against Rich Franklin.

After Silva barely defeated Chael Sonnen in the fifth round after Sonnen dominated for four-and-a-half rounds, one wondered if Silva's skills were finally deteriorating.

However, Silva put a end to any doubts when he decimated Vitor Belfort with one of the most vicious knockouts in UFC history, a front kick that sent the former light heavyweight champ into la-la land.

Silva has shown that he can keep up with the top young talent in the UFC, so unfortunately, age is not in Okami's advantage.

Advantage: Even

Height

Height is where both of the fighters are identical at 6'2".

However, Silva uses his height to his advantage more than Okami.

Silva is the definition of a complete fighter. His muay thai, jiu jitsu, and submission game are some of the best anyone has ever seen.

But where Silva uses his height is in the standup game.

Silva uses his height when it comes to kickboxing, throwing leg and high kicks.

The Spider is long and skinny and uses his long reach to keep opponents out of his range.

His kicks, knees and elbows are not only precise, but they are devastating. Silva has stopped 16 of his fights using his height to his advantage.

Advantage: Silva

Weight

Although both fighters will be required by the UFC to weigh the same come fight night, 185, Okami may use his weight more to his advantage than Silva.

Okami is a very big middleweight and possesses exceptional balance as well as takedown defense.

In past fights, Okami has frustrated opponents who have continually tried to take the Japanese fighter down, including his fights with Mark Munoz and Nate Marquardt.

"Thunder" would stuff the attempted takedown and press his weight onto his opponent's back. This would not only frustrate his opponent, but it would tire him out as he tried to get back to the top.

When his opponents cannot take down Okami, they have no choice but to stay on their feet.

Okami is a counter-strike fighter who waits for his opponents to make a mistake so he can take advantage with his superior striking. 

Advantage: Okami

Reach

Both fighters have impressive striking, but reach is where Silva separates himself from Okami.

Silva has a five inch reach advantage, 77, over Okami, 72, and has used his reach in several of his previous fights.

One of the best examples of Silva's reach advantage is his fight against Forrest Griffin.

Silva continued to land strikes against the former light heavyweight champion, as well as dodged almost all of Griffin's punches.

Griffin barely laid a hand on Silva before The Spider knocked out Griffin to continue his reign of dominance.

If Okami and Silva enter into a standup battle, Okami will have to find away to get around Silva's long and lengthy arms.

Chael Sonnen was one of the only fighters who was successful in getting past Silva's reach because he did exactly what he said he would do in the pre-fight smack talk: he went right at him.

Unlike Demian Maia and Vitor Belfort, Sonnen did not wait for Silva to make the first move. From the beginning of the first round, Sonnen attacked the Spider and caught him off guard.

If Okami sticks with his counter-strike strategy waiting for Silva to make a mistake, he will find himself in a world of trouble.

Advantage: Silva

Conclusion

When looking at the tale of the tape, it appears that there is a lot identical between Yushin Okami and Anderson Silva.

With identical height and weight, it will come down to who has the better skill set, which clearly belongs to Silva.

Yes, Okami was the last person to defeat the UFC's longest active winning streak holder, but it was only because of an illegal up kick that got Silva disqualified.

The big advantage that Silva has over Okami is his reach, which has been one of Silva's best advantages his entire fight career.

Okami is a fighter who counters his opponents and takes advantage of their mistakes, but Silva rarely makes mistakes.

Okami's other skill set is his takedown defense, which was shown in his fight against Mark Munoz, where Okami frustrated the Filipino Wrecking Machine.

However, this will be no problem for Silva because he has no problem keeping the fight standing, just ask Vitor Belfort, Rich Franklin, and Chris Leben.

If Okami is able to take the fight to the ground, Silva has an extraordinary jiu jitsu game and has shown his submission skills against Chael Sonnen and current Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson.

Okami will stick to his game and try to frustrate Silva, but over time Silva will begin to frustrate Okami. If Okami waits for Silva to make a move, Silva will taunt Okami like he did Demian Maia until the Japanese fighter makes a mistake of his own.

In the end, Silva will continue his consecutive win streak and add another victim to his list.